A/N I still continue to only write for pleasure, borrowing these great characters.

Thank you so much to EroSlackerMicha, Mojo01, LoErneBraska, and Guest for their reviews.

When he heard the knock on the door, Archer took a deep breath and said to Porthos, "Here we go, wish me luck."

He opened the door and saw she was dressed in a human dress that finished just above her knees. Inviting her in, he motioned for her to set in a chair across from the couch and asked if she wanted some tea or water.

She gracefully sat down and indicated she would like some water. He got them each a bottle and sat down across from her.

"Thank you for coming. I know I didn't give you much notice."

"It was no problem. I had no other plans."

"I invited you here to talk about a personal issue. If it is okay with you, I have something I want to say. It may take a while but I hope you will hear me out."

T'Pol inwardly took a breath and attempted to relax. She thought back to what he had said when she was about to tell him whether she was returning to Enterprise. Like it was for him then, this was one of the most important moments of her life.

"Of course, Admiral."

Archer smiled, "Since it is personal and you are in my apartment, I think we can return to Jonathan."

"That would be satisfactory."

"I remember the first time I ever heard anything about you. Several of the other captains were saying how there was a 'sexy' new Vulcan on Soval's staff. To me it just meant that I had another adversary. Anyone who was with Soval was considered my enemy."

"When I attended the meeting welcoming you to Earth, I had to admit that the others had been right, but I made no effort to make you welcome. As I remember I was close to being rude."

T'Pol did remember. She had been interested in meeting the man that Soval was so intent on preventing from being the first captain of Earth's warp ship. He had appeared to be just what Soval described. But even then, there had been something about him, something that set him apart.

Archer had gone on, "Then of course, there was the meeting in Sickbay." He smiled ruefully, "When I made a rather pitiful attempt to intimidate you. We both know you would have probably kicked my ass."

T'Pol remembered that she had been a little embarrassed she had been driven to make a comment. She has been a little shocked by his response. But as she had told the medium on Vulcan, she had been impressed by how he took control of the situation.

"When I heard you were going to be going with us, I was really upset. And when I realized that you were holding back information, everything I believed about Vulcans seemed justified."

He looked over at her and met her eyes, "But from that moment forward, things began to change."

"To say I was shocked when you decided to aid us in continuing our mission when you could have had us return to Earth would be a huge understatement. It went against everything I had believed. And when it was over, I knew how valuable you could be to the crew. But there was something else, I realized I would miss having you around."

"That realization really came home to me when you were being recalled. I don't know if you remember, but I shocked myself when I told you that the Vulcans had taken something from my Father and I wasn't going to let them do it to me. I realized I meant very word of it, that it just wasn't because you were an important member of my crew, but that you had become important to me."

"There were many more times after that further convinced me of that fact."

He looked a little embarrassed, "And as personally embarrassed as I was how I acted when Porthos was sick, I was still stunned and pleased when you implied you could be attracted to me as well."

"But then the Xindi attacked and everything changed. I was torn between wanting you with us to wanting you to be safe. The less I say about what happened next is best. It is not one of my favorite or proudest times. But there were two memories about us that stand out. You telling me you didn't want me to die, but even more, that moment when I returned to the bridge when we went back in time. When we met, I had the feeling, I don't know how to explain it, that we were on the verge of something that would have been hard to move back from. So, I reverted to being Captain and Subcommander."

T'Pol decided she needed to take a chance, "I felt it too. I know I envied how natural the emotion was between you and Hoshi."

"Then came the Forge and again I knew how important you were to me."

"But through it all, I never admitted to myself what I actually felt. It was just too much for me to believe. When it seemed that you and Trip were becoming involved, I was surprised that I was jealous. But I stamped that feeling down too."

Then he reached out and surprised her by taking her hands, "But it was when you said you were leaving Starfleet and it was possible I would never see you again, that I finally faced the truth."

Archer looked into her eyes, "I am not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the line, you became the most important thing in my life."

As T'Pol sat there, not daring to believe, he went on, "I love you, T'Pol."

They both sat there, each stunned that it was finally out there, one relieved that he had finally had the nerve to say it, but terrified at what her reaction would be, while the other could not believe that he had really said it, that what she was afraid could not be true, was.

She squeezed his hands and looking into those green eyes, said, "That is most pleasing to me, because I love you, too."

T'Pol heart soared as she saw the look of pure joy on Jonathan's face. They both rose together and moved together as their lips met. She found herself pressing close to him, finally achieving the physical contact she had long desired.

Archer put his arms around her, feeling her body press against his.

Finally, they stepped back, each a little breathless. Archer smiled, "I never realized how much I wanted that, how much I needed that."

T'Pol came as close to a smile as Archer had ever seen, "It was most pleasant to me as well."

Then Archer smiled more broadly, "Well, what do we do now?"

Suddenly T'Pol returned to her stoic self, "Nothing."

Archer's smile faded as he said, "What?"

T'Pol took his hand and led him to the couch, sitting down beside him. "Jonathan, you are the Supreme Commander of the Alliance. You were selected because you are the only one the others trust to be impartial, but that belief is tenuous. The Tellerites especially will be looking for signs that you favor the others over them. If they were to learn we were involved, it is likely those suspicions would increase. With all that is at stake, we cannot risk that."

"Besides, you are my commanding officer. You must set a standard for the others. If we act on our feelings, we would be breaking Starfleet regulations. They exist for a reason. No one must believe that you would hesitate to put me in danger if such an action was needed. And you must promise me that that will not happen, that you will not treat me differently."

Archer was stunned and wanted to tell her how wrong she was. But as the words settled in, he knew she was right. There was too much at stake. What was that Vulcan saying, 'The needs of the many…'?

Looking sadly at her, he said, "The needs of the many?"

T'Pol was surprised at first, but then was proud of him, "Yes."

Then he had a thought, no one would ever know, "Couldn't we at least, you know, be together before we leave?"

T'Pol felt herself blushing. Then she said, "As much as I may desire that, as a Vulcan, it is important to me that we are first committed to each other through marriage. I believe it is necessary to a long-term relationship."

She saw Archer frown and realized he was thinking about her and Trip. She needed to explain the difference and then regretfully decided it was time to tell him the truth about the Trellium.

"If you are thinking about Trip and me, I was not in love with him and did not plan on a committed relationship." She hesitated, "There is something else I need to tell you."

"You mean about the Trellium?"

T'Pol was stunned, for a moment she was actually speechless, "How….?"

"After you and Trip left for Vulcan, there was a meeting with the Vulcans. Soval accused me of not doing all I could to save the crew of the Seleya. It got pretty heated and I walked out. Later Soval apologized."

"But, it reminded me that we had all that Trellium aboard Enterprise. I decided it would be best if I had it destroyed. I was surprised to find that some of it was missing and that there was an open container lying on top with some of the rocks gone."

"The only person I could conceive that would have any interest in it was you. Hoping that I was wrong, I decided to check first with Phlox. Without telling me directly since that would be against his principles, we engaged in a game of hypotheticals which let me know it was you but that he had been able to help."

T'Pol lowered her eyes, "Why did you never say anything?"

Archer reached out and raised her head to look at him, "I am hardly the person to question anyone's actions in the Expanse. Whatever happened during that time is best forgotten."

He then went on, "Does Trip know?"

"No, I did not want to excuse my actions with him by using my addiction." She looked him in the eye, "It was not the only reason we were intimate."

Archer felt a flare of jealousy but it quickly faded. That was all ancient history.

Suddenly he had an idea. "I'm afraid I agree we have to keep our feelings for each other to ourselves for now, but I warn you, the minute this war is over, I am going to ask you to marry me."

T'Pol flashed that almost smile again, "I will hold you to that."

Then they kissed again and sat together for a time before they reluctantly parted, knowing it would likely be a long time before they could express their desires again.

During the six months since the attack, corporations on Earth and their counterparts on the other planets had reached out to each other to discuss ways to aid in the war effort. One of the most interesting was the idea to sell products to bring the planets closer together and raise money for the war. One of the first areas was the area of children's toys. Action figures of the crew of Enterprise had been a big seller. As the war would go on the ideas exploded. Soon figures of all the prominent players were on the market on all the planets, with admittedly a very small market on Vulcan.

Then came dolls and games and model spaceships. All of the profits going to the War Chest. Ironically, one of the biggest sales items were Tellerite plush dolls. They were round and soft and were so ugly they were cute. It didn't stop with children though. Soon there were jackets and pants modeled after Andorian uniforms, although exact copies of the uniforms themselves were forbidden. There were Tellerite and Vulcan robes, and Starfleet jackets as well. Another big seller was a copy of T'Pol's nightwear. Natalie considered buying one but thought that could be awkward.

Travel companies started to work on plans for trips to the other planets but fears of attacks by the enemy forced that one to the back burners. Movie makers started to work on movies dealing with the war and life on the other planets. News outlets began to carry items of stories from the other planets. It soon became apparent that what T'Pau had feared was coming true much faster than she could have imagined, although Vulcan for the most part only played a small part in all the activity.

Earth Parliament passed the War Families Act which provided services for the families left behind which included medical and free legal services to protect them during the war. They had a provision for significant others, but there was a rush of weddings so the soldiers were sure their loved ones would be covered.

After the two weeks of leave passed, everyone felt a rush of urgency as the time leading up to the launch passed quickly.

It was decided that the respective fleets would meet at a point in space equidistant from the four planets where there would be a farewell ceremony with representatives of the War Committee present.

Both Starfleet academy and the offices for recruiting non-officer personnel were inundated with applicants. Although of course everyone had been affected by the original attack, the approach of the launch date forced everyone to face the reality of what was happening. There were huge support demonstrations for the war effort as people wanted to do something to show their backing for the troops. Although there were a few small pacifist protests, they were buried in the rallies for the war.

Through it all, there was no sign of Terra Prime.

Natalie and Trip spent as much time as they could together, leaving the preparations for the departure with his engineering crew.

Hoshi and Travis had little time to be together as they worked long hours on Enterprise, but they did their best to make their alone time memorable.

Archer and T'Pol were gratified to discover that their finding out about their mutual love for each other made their friendship stronger and improved their working relationship.

Malcolm threw himself into his work, spending almost all his time on Enterprise. He made use of the hours he had spent studying all aspects of the ship by offering to help out in all departments.

The science ships from Vulcan, equipped with detection devices, left to begin patrolling. With speeds up to warp 8, they would be in place two months ahead of the arrival of the fleet.

It was three o'clock in the morning, just one week before the launch date, when Natalie shook Trip to awaken him. Still half asleep, he muttered, "What's wrong?"

"I think we better get to the hospital."

Trip was now awake, "Now?"

"Unless you want to deliver the baby yourself."

Within a half hour, they were on their way to Starfleet Medical, Trip calling ahead that they were on their way. Trip had been surprised when Natalie had informed him some time before that she wanted to have the baby at Starfleet. After all she could afford to go to any hospital she wanted. But she said she was the wife of a Starfleet officer and that's were she belonged. Not only that, she had asked that Phlox deliver the baby. He of course had been honored.

When they arrived at the center, Phlox was waiting for them. Flashing his creepy smile, he watched as she was ushered in. After he had seen that Natalie was all checked in and Phlox was with her, Trip contacted Travis and Hoshi, who told him they would call the others. Trip also called Lester Warren who said he would arrange to pickup Trip's parents and get there as soon as they could.

Within an hour the entire bridge crew was there. Phlox informed them it could be a while. As the morning wore on, other prospective parents began to arrive. Despite Archer's objections, Starfleet security had placed two men in the delivery room. The new arrivals seemed to have no problem with it however, excited to be with their heroes. Outside, reporters and photographers continued their vigil.

It was 0900 when Trip emerged with a huge smile on his face and announced that his son had just been delivered. As they went over to congratulate him, the other people in the room stood and cheered.

Trip led them back to a room where they could wait for Natalie and the baby. They were joined by Phlox who was smiling broadly.

Then Natalie came in and everyone gathered around as she received hugs from everyone except T'Pol, who did offer her congratulations.

Then the baby was brought in and everyone's attention turned to him. Trip and Natalie introduced him as Charlie Blake Tucker. The Charlie was a compromise between Natalie and Trip. Natalie had wanted him to be Charles Tucker IV, but Trip said being a III was bad enough. Blake was Natalie's mother's maiden name.

Then Hoshi asked if she could hold him. As she looked down at him, she decided it was probably good they were going to ship out because she suddenly thought she would like to be a mother herself.

Then Natalie asked T'Pol if she would like to hold him. To everyone's surprise, T'Pol immediately said yes. As she took him and held him tenderly, Natalie smiled and thought that apparently some things were true for all species. Then she happened to look over at Jonathan. She almost gasped as she saw the look on his face as he watched T'Pol. In that moment Natalie knew that he loved her, the look was one of adoration. Exchanging a glance with Hoshi, she saw Hoshi had seen it as well.

Natalie wondered if T'Pol knew how Archer felt, of how she felt toward him. Did she love him? Was she capable of loving him?

Phlox then stepped in and said Natalie needed to rest. Everyone congratulated the new parents again and left, saying they would check back before the launch.

Avoiding the press by staying within Starfleet grounds, Archer and T'Pol walked together back toward the shuttle that would take them back to Enterprise. They had been living on the ship for the last couple weeks, preparing for the launch. Several others including Malcolm were doing the same.

Both were quiet as they walked lost in their own thoughts.

Archer was thinking how he had felt when T'Pol was holding Charlie. It was similar to what he had experienced when they had visited Mercy, but even more intense. Archer had not thought of himself being a father since Margaret Mullin had turned him down. He had come to believe she was right and that he was married to Starfleet. Even when he realized he loved T'Pol, he had apparently still denied that as a possibility. But seeing her with Charlie had brought forward feelings he had long repressed. But then he wondered, even if I wanted children, is it physically possible? And how about T'Pol, does she want to be a mother?

T'Pol fought to control her emotions. When Natalie had asked her to hold the baby, she felt it would be impolite to refuse. But holding Charlie had evoked emotions she realized she had long denied. When she was younger, she had assumed she would be a mother someday, but with her splitting from Koss and her life on Enterprise, she had put such thoughts behind her. She looked over at Jonathan, who seemed lost in thought. Did he want children? He had never said anything about it in all the years she had known him. Even if they did both want to be parents, would it be possible for them to produce a child? Vulcans and Humans were very different internally with humans being carbon based and Vulcans iron.

They both then decided to themselves that they would deal with that, as with everything else, after the war. But both thought they might raise the compatibility issue with Phlox.

Two days before the launch, Satak arrived on Earth. He was one of the Vulcans along with V'Las that were involved with Farrak on Vulcan. When an opportunity arose for him to work temporarily on Earth, he saw it as an opportunity to see this race that had earned an attack from the Empire for himself. He also wondered if it would be possible to perhaps determine if there were any factions on Earth that could be exploited for the cause. He knew of the coming launch of course and while it was of importance on Vulcan, he was amazed by the emotional outburst it elicited among the humans. In a short time, he also was struck by the amazing passion that was felt for Jonathan Archer. Even on Vulcan, many felt he was the reason T'Pau had finally decided to become involved.

Aboard the cloaked ship Tragon, Tribune Haun watched the preparation for the launch of the Allied Fleet. The other planets were being watched as well. They had decided they would follow the fleet to its destination and then proceed to get within contact distance of Romulus to report what they had seen and receive new orders.

Trang was determined this time to stand firm. He had given in to Helena's attacks on tradition before, but this was going too far. Gathering himself, he watched her enter his office.

"Good morning, General Trang."

"Good morning, Helena, will you please be seated?"

As she sat gracefully down, Trang had to steel himself. He knew he had allowed himself to become attached to her when she had been a child. He needed to rid himself of those feelings of having acted as her Father.

She opened the conversation, "Have you set a time for our fleet to leave to join the others?"

"Yes, we will be leaving two days from now at eight o'clock in the morning. It should take 67 hours to reach the launch site."

"Good. I understand you will be traveling aboard the Louron?"

"Yes, I will go to the site with General Shran and return aboard the Vestor."

"Which ship would you prefer I use? I need to be sure my quarters will be prepared."

Trang had to struggle not to explode. She was just ignoring the stand he had taken. Well, it wasn't going to work. He was sure this time he would have the people of Andoria behind him. And even if he didn't, it was his duty to protect her and there was just too much risk.

Taking a deep breath, he glared at her and said, "We have discussed this, and you know where I stand. No Queen of Andoria has ever left the planet and you will not be the first. This time there is no debate. This is more than a tradition, it goes to he heart of being the Queen." He continued to glare at her, knowing he would need to be prepared for her attempting to change his mind. Her reaction stunned him.

She rose to her feet, her eyes flashing and showing anger for the first time, "How dare you speak to me like that. I am Helena, Queen of Andoria. We are about to send our finest soldiers into battle. We are embarking on a struggle for our very future, for the lives of our children and their children. You would deny me the right to show my resolve, to show my support for our troops, to show that I stand with the Alliance?"

She then sat back down and her demeanor changed completely, quietly she said, "Trang, do not deny me this. These are my people, my subjects."

Then she smiled, "Besides, I have heard you say many times that to be on an Andorian ship is to be on Andorian soil."

Trang sat there completely shocked. He tried to reach back, to regain his resolve, but he knew he was lost. But there were still the Andorian People, maybe this time she had gone too far.

Two days later, a huge crowd watched and cheered as the soldiers of Andoria boarded their ships. But nothing matched the cheers as Queen Helena arrived to board the Vestor. Helena had allowed Trang to insist she spend her time on only one ship.

"Long live the Queen, long live the Imperial Guard," the chant continued until the Queen was out of sight and the Andorian fleet moved out of orbit.

On The Teller, the scene was familiar as the soldiers boarded their ships. But under the surface, many Tellerites still wondered if how their fleet would fare. Planet pride or not, they knew their ships were not the equal of the others and hoped they would uphold Tellerite honor.

Gral felt no such trepidation as his flagship proudly led the fleet out of orbit.

A few days before the launch of the Vulcan fleet, Minister Kuvack was sitting with the Fleet commander, finishing up plans for the launch and arranging for the Minister's presence on the ship. They were surprised when the door opened and Minister T'Pau entered.

Kuvack spoke first, "Minister, it is satisfactory to see you, but we were not expecting you."

T'Pau sat down across from him, "You were not expecting me at a meeting to discuss the launch of the Vulcan fleet?"

"We were just discussing the small matters of my quarters on the ship and the time I would arrive. We did not believe they would be of interest to you."

T'Pau arched her eyebrows, "And what of my arrangements? Surely your plans are contingent upon mine."

Now the two could not completely hide their surprise, Kuvack stammered a little, "Your plans?"

"Of course. I do not know what you think you have decided, but I will need lodging aboard the Charon. I will transfer to the Satara for the return trip."

Fighting to recover, Kuvack went on, "You are planning to go? But you said you would never…."

"Never leave Vulcan? I never imagined we would be in this situation. Did you believe I would not be there when our soldiers go to war? That I would not be there to show my support?"

Kuvack, finally regaining some control, "Of course not, Minister. Do you wish for me to remain on Vulcan?"

"No, I believe we should both be there, but I would have you stay aboard the Satara."

Then, smiling inwardly, she turned to the Fleet Commander, "Besides, have not you always said that to be aboard a Vulcan ship is to be on Vulcan soil?"

A few days later, with T'Pau aboard, the Vulcan Fleet left orbit.

On Earth, the passions and large support became a moment of serious contemplation as the troops boarded their ships. Suddenly the three ships seemed to be a small force against what awaited them. But there was no lessening of their feeling of pride.

Trip and Natalie had decided to stay at home with Charlie and their parents, having said their goodbyes the day before. As Trip saw the ships ready to leave, he knew Natalie had been right. If he was not planning to be with them, he would have regretted it forever. But that didn't mean leaving his wife and son would not be the hardest thing he had ever done.

Jane McBride sat next to Mercy as she was totally engrossed watching the events unfold. As Jane ran her fingers through Mercy's hair, she thought of the results of her daughter's latest medical check. It seemed that Mercy had reached the second stage of the disease; the first being the original diagnosis. One of the parents of an earlier patient, obviously a student of history, had dubbed it the Churchill Stage, based on one of his famous speeches, It is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.

Archer looked around the Bridge. Here they were again. He felt a wave of emotion as he thought of how proud he was of all of them. How they had come together, how they had overcome so much. He smiled as he thought of his relationship with Malcolm Reed, how they had come to a feeling of mutual respect. And although he had the same respect for Travis and Hoshi, he also had an affection for them. He was so happy to see them together. And there was Trip and doctor Phlox. One who had been with him since the beginning and the other, someone who had on many occasions changed and reformed his perceptions.

And then there was T'Pol. The thought he had once dismissed her as just another Vulcan now seemed absurd and petty. Now he couldn't imagine life without her. Even before he knew they loved each other, she had become his best friend and his right hand.

He decided he had no speeches, there was really nothing he needed to say, nothing they needed to hear.

"Hoshi, tell the others we're ready to leave."

"Travis, take her out, one quarter impulse."

The Earth fleet left orbit.